Of Gods and Kings
by Leowen Dravon
Summary: After 5 years of imprisonment, Naruto is reunited with his comrades but finds himself in a broken and destroyed world, tormented by the immortal death worshiping Jasin cult. Naruto and Sakura struggle to restore their world to its former glory, and more.
1. Deliverance

_For the Official Art for this chapter, copy the following link into your URL box and remove the spaces on either side of deviantart. This site is ridiculous in that it doesn't allow normal links.  
_

genesis-dragon. deviantart .com/art/Of-Gods-and-Kings-Deliverance-144510463

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For ages mankind has dealt with the meaninglessness of their lives by coming up with various excuses and reasons. Things like "Destiny" "Fate" and "Purpose" let them sleep at night without losing all will to wake up the next morning. But what of those who have already lost everything? What about those who would prefer to simply never awaken again? What is left, when a person is stripped of every last comfort they have ever known and violently forced to come to terms with the own meaninglessness of their existence? What happens when this person, despite their wishes to be erased from this world, is forced to go on? Forced to accept the conditions of life, and forced to give up "Fate" and "Destiny? Forced to realize that no divine being will grant them "Purpose"? What is left then? An unstoppable, relentless force that is bound neither by physical form or mental limitations. Powered solely by conviction and the will not to just follow Destiny, but to forge it, with the burning inferno of an eternal soul. What survives, what lives on to fight and build a new dawn is no longer a person, but the equivalent of God itself.

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Of Gods and Kings

Chapter I

Deliverance

Sakura pressed herself against the wall as the guard slipped by, careful to control her breathing and suppress her chakra as to conceal any evidence of her presence. She silently raged, she was a medic nin, not suited for this sort of stealth infiltration. She was chosen because of her superb chakra control and the potential need for her healing abilities, but this mission was still way outside of her skill set. Her combat skills relied on a more direct approach, and even if she knocked the guards out, hiding the bodies was one problem, and the inevitable alarm from the guards not checking in was another. As a result of this and stretched manpower, the mission needed to be completely covert and with a single operative. Still it had to be done. It had been 5 years since he was captured, long believed to be dead, and even though Sakura was assigned to this mission, deep down she wanted, no, needed to do this.

The Jashin symbol was inscribed on the opposite wall, its simplistic design, a circle circumscribing an upside down triangle, was easily recognized and still sent shivers down Sakura's spine every time she saw it. It stood only for mindless death and all the friends and allies she had lost during this war. Not wanting to quell up distracting memories and emotions, Sakura quickly moved and made her way down the hallway. If the intel she received from Sunagakure was correct, the prison cells should be at the end of the hall. Using a mirror, Sakura peered around the corner. Much to her pleasure, only one guard was posted outside the iron door, this would make things much easier.

In a flash of hand seals, she pulled a cloak of illusion over herself and stepped around the corner. She had taken on the appearance of a female guard, clad in a pair of dark colored hakama and a matching tight fitting shirt. The guard on duty was fat and the stagnate odor emanating from his rolls assaulted Sakura's nose from down the hall. He was bald with beady eyes that looked half glazed over and a stupid look on his face. It was amazing he hadn't been killed simply from how incompetent he looked. He looked down at Sakura, "When did we get such hot followers?" he chuckled.

"I'm here to relieve you, your shift is over." Sakura replied sternly, looking at him straight in the eye.

"Relieve me eh? Ah hah hah I like the sound of that" reaching out with he fat fingers, "No one comes down here anyways, lets have some fun eh?"

Sakura smirked, "Why aren't you quite the womanizer," slipping her arms around the guard's neck, "But only if you do one little thing for me."

"Ah hah hah anything you want baby!" he laughed.

"Sleep," as she stuck the needle hidden in her hand into the side of the guard's neck. His confused eyes instantly rolled into the back of his head and collapsed. "If you're lucky you'll do the world a favor and not wake up, pig." She propped the snoring guard up in the corner and plucked the ring of keys off his belt, opening the iron door in front of her.

As she stepped inside, the stench of rotting corpses almost made her vomit. The smell was so bad she could taste it, and Sakura struggled to move in further. The cells had likely not been cleaned out since the prisoners were first placed in there, and inevitably died. Not a living soul was in sight, just the smell of rotting flesh, feces, and dried blood. Fearing for the worst she quickly made her way through the stone halls, searching for any sign of life. Hall after hall yielded no results, he wasn't there; she couldn't even feel his chakra. In desperation she made her way down the last hall, sprinting to the cell at the very end of the prison. Her heart skipped a beat as the light from the torches gently illuminated the contents of the cell. A man was in there, shirtless, beaten and bloody; kneeling on the ground with his arms shackled and spread apart. His face was shadowed by his long, blood matted blond hair, but Sakura knew; she had finally found him after five years.

"Naruto" she whispered. Dropping to her knees she placed her palm against the rusted chakra lock. The lock was designed to only respond to certain peoples' chakra, but with the proper skill and control, Sakura easily opened the door and rushed inside. The Jashin symbol was carved into the floor in front of Naruto, though the dried blood was so thick that it was difficult to make out the design in the dim lighting. The symbol undoubtedly was used to perform unspeakable tortures to the blond chained before it. Reaching out, Sakura's hands found Naruto's neck as she checked his pulse; it was faint but he was still alive.

His hair was long and covered his eyes; his face was rough and covered with scruff. Sakura took off her gloves and slid her cool pale hands across Naruto's rough face. She cradled his head in her hands and looked longingly at his matured and battered features, "Oh god Naruto…what has the world done to you?" She felt as if she should cry, but she knew the tears wouldn't come, she ran out of them five years ago. After Naruto was captured, she vowed to be strong and never cry again, because the lives of her comrades and fellow villagers depended on her strength. She knew Naruto wouldn't have it any other way.

Snapping to her senses, Sakura reached out to undo the chains binding Naruto's arms. As her finger touched the metal, it snapped and she jerked her hands back. "Chakra suppression chains huh?" And a damn strong spell at that. That would explain why she was unable to sense his chakra earlier, the chains constantly drained him to a near fatal level. Carefully reaching out, she placed her hands near the chain, ignoring the stinging pain of her chakra being slowly sapped away. If she managed to match the chakra harmonic frequency of the chains, and counter it with a pulse of her own chakra, the draining effect would dissipate. Unfortunately if she did it wrong it would likely drain more chakra than she could afford; Sakura only had one shot at this.

Carefully she felt out the chakra pulsing through the chain, taking a deep breath she gathered a mass of energy in her hands, manipulating it to match the same frequency as the chain. Grunting in effort she forced the chakra out all at once and the chain went cold as the effect of the drain dissipated. Moving over to the other chain, Sakura repeated the process, but right as she broke the effect, her heart skipped a beat as the sound of a voice echoed through the halls of the prison block.

"Asleep again I see? Useless piece of trash" echoed the voice, followed by a sickening sound of parting flesh and cracked bone. The door creaked open and Sakura frantically looked for a place to hide. Leaping up she managed to use her chakra to hold herself against the ceiling above the door to the cell. The sound of heavy boots sounded down the hall toward the cell, "Idiot never used his head anyway. I did him a favor by taking it off for him." The sound stopped outside Naruto's cell, and with a click the door swung open. A burly man carrying what appeared to be a large bloody meat cleaver stepped into the cell. Sakura did her best to control her breathing and chakra, if she was discovered now she'd likely be killed. The man positioned himself in the center of the crest that was engraved into the floor and lifted Naruto's head with the tip of the blade.

"Good news, I managed to convince Lord Valjean to let you live. You see I told the good Lord that you may be of further use to us, but we both know you'll never talk." A smile crept across his face, "I've come to accept this fact, but, that's what I love about you. After our 5 years together, I have SO enjoyed killing you, over and over." He seemed to shudder in pleasure, "You survive wounds that would kill a normal person 10 times over. What a glorious specimen, the worst kind of prisoner, but the best plaything a Jashin Monk could ask for." He sighed, "If only all of my prisoners were as resilient as you, I would have been able to enjoy killing them far more; don't you agree?"

Much to Sakura's surprise, Naruto stirred a bit and murmured something.

"What was that? Speak up worm" demanded the man.

"Saku…ra…" he breathed

"That bitch again? All you talk about is that whore. For the past 5 years I've had to listen to you bitch and complain about how she would come to save you any day,"

Sakura felt a knot in her throat

"What makes you think today will be any different? I'm sure she has forgotten about your dumb ass already and moved on. She just accepted you were dead and probably found some other guy to fuck, just like the whore she is."

Suddenly the room started to get warmer, and to her horror, Sakura saw a red glow appear around Naruto's limp form.

"Don't you ….you EVER speak about her like that again!" Naruto growled, the heat intensifying.

The guard took a step back, "What the hell are you talking about?" his silver eyes flickering in confusion. Naruto's head snapped up, his eyes a deep crimson, irises narrow slits as his body burst into a flame of red chakra.

The guard opened his mouth, "….shit".

In a single tug, Naruto shattered the now spell-broken chains holding his arms and was on top of the man in a second. Falling to the ground with Naruto on top of him, the interrogator lost his grip on his weapon and the blade clattered to the ground. An instant later it found its way into Naruto's hand. The interrogator struggled to flee holding out his arms to stop the furious blond, was it was already too late. The blade smashed into the man's face, the sound of his skull splitting under the blow echoed in the cell block but Naruto didn't stop here. The blade found its mark over and over and over, smashing into the man's destroyed head repeatedly.

Sakura dropped down behind the blond, "Naruto…stop, its over." But he didn't stop, and continued to mutilate the man's body. Sakura reached to grab his shoulder, "NARUTO STOP!" the blond whipped around, arm pulled back with the blade ready to strike. His face was covered in the interrogator's blood. "Naruto…" she said again calmly, "It's me, I'm here to rescue you"

Naruto's eyes flickered, "…Sa…Sakura-chan?" Sakura nodded and the blond's eyes faded back to blue and the red chakra cloak dissipated. "Sakura…I knew you'd come" he collapsed into her arms, "I knew…"

A pang of guilt hit her, but she set it aside and focused on getting them out of here. Surely someone would have heard the commotion and the place would be swarming with Jashin soldiers soon, a situation Sakura certainly didn't want. Any latent desires for stealth evaporated as she pulled her gloves back on and helped the blond to his feet. Checking the mental map she made of the complex, Sakura made her way over to one of the cell block walls and decimated it with a single punch. A very confused Jashin warrior stood in the clearing dust which Sakura was on top of in a second, grabbing him by the head and crushing his face in her hand. He tried to get back up after slumping down to the floor but her foot slammed into the side of his head and finished the job. Grabbing Naruto and hoisting him on her back, Sakura pressed forward, decimating wall after wall and taking out anyone that tried to bar their path as the two made their way to the edge of the complex. If they were lucky, the chaos would keep the Jashin busy long enough for the two to make it clear of the complex.

Finally the two came to a wall that was a slightly different color, and the sound of hissing wind could be heard through a small crack; it was the outer wall. Reeling her arm back, Sakura bellowed "Hell yeah!" and decimated the wall. Hot sand immediately rushed inside, the harsh wind beating at their skin. The pinkette quickly pulled a cloak around herself and Naruto, covering her face and mouth and rushed into the swirling sandstorm. It was a dangerous move but she was out of options, and the storm would help facilitate their escape.

They moved quickly through the sand, knowing full well that their pursuers would be hot on their trail. When they were a safe distance away, Sakura turned around to complete the second part of her mission. Making a hand seal and muttering under breath, the countless remote detonation explosive notes she had left throughout the complex on her way in exploded. The resulting shockwave blew the two to the ground and were quickly half swallowed by the sand. Quickly recovering, Sakura hoisted the half conscious Naruto onto her back again and continued away from the complex. That explosion leveled most of the building but the warriors would soon recover and continue their pursuit. The two needed to find a hiding place and shelter quickly.

After 45 minutes of struggling through the whirling sands, Sakura's strength began to leave her and she started to stumble through the shifting sands. She tripped, tumbling down a dune, sending the two sprawling across the ground. Struggling to breath and wiping the sand from her eyes, she pulled herself across the ground to Naruto. Coughing and squinting she saw a black spot through the swirling sands; pulling together the last of her strength she grabbed Naruto by the collar and made a sprint towards whatever the darkness was. Diving towards it she rolled into hard rock and realized what she had found was a half submerged cave in the side of a dune. She felt herself losing the last of her strength as pulled herself on her hands and knees as deep in the cave as she could, dragging Naruto behind her, before finally collapsing from exhaustion, her vision fading to darkness.


	2. Origin

_For the Official Art for this chapter, copy the following link into your URL box and remove the spaces on either side of deviantart. This site is ridiculous in that it doesn't allow normal links._

genesis-dragon. deviantart .com/art/Of-Gods-and-Kings-Origin-149877206

Black1nferno – Thank you for pointing out my error is the spelling of "Jasin" and that it is actually "Jashin" I went back and corrected all of them in Chapter 1.

Crazyefra – Thanks! I hope it continues to stay interesting for you, also thanks for being the first review to my story!

Thedormin – I'm defiantly going for a darker feel to this story, my last few were heavily romance driven. Not to say there wont be romance, just expect a longer story this time with darker elements leading up to the warm fuzzy.

Dbzgtfan2004 – Long live NaruSaku! You should check out my deviantart gallery, link is in my profile, I've got a slew of NaruSaku fanart in there.

xNINJABLADE45x – Thanks for the review!

Zaisuro – Thank you, that means a lot to me. I often find it difficult to come up with original plotlines that 10 billion other people haven't already written about, so I hope it continues to be unique and interesting for all of you.

Lady Stormfeather – Oh geeze I have regulars now, I know you! It's good to see you again and to know that you're still following me, so thank you! I assure you this story will be even more exciting than my other ones. I promise I'll try to update more often…I know I slack off a lot when I have a lot to do in school and whatnot. Nonetheless thanks for reviewing, can't wait to hear from you again.

There is so much talk about the origin of all things. Some speak of a divine creation and others of a grand explosion which created the heavens and the earth. Some cultures even go to speak of a sword dipped into the ocean and land was born from the drops that fell from the blade. The origin of this tale does not stem from swords or gods, but from the heart of fire itself. Whether or not this stems from the primal desires of the heart or simply the inferno of the desire to kill is unknown. We can only appreciate the events that have transpired as relics of a time which is no longer our own, and exist for the memories of our past. No matter how painful or broken our past may be, we cannot simply live as product of the past, but as tools for the future.

Chapter 2

Origin

Sakura wiped the sand from her eyes as they cracked open to meet the thin stream of light shooting from the wall. The air was stale and it was difficult to breathe. She realized that she must have passed out from exhaustion the night before after they made refuge in the small desert cave. Judging from the fact that they were still alive and for the most part uninjured, the Jashin warriors had not discovered them while they slept. Luckily the sandstorm the night before likely removed any trace of their tracks as they made their escape. Nonetheless they were not in the clear yet; for all intensive purposes they were still fairly close to the Jashin outpost and patrols could still be in the area searching for them. Carefully poking at the small opening to the outside world, Sakura peered through the hole from the sand that had piled in over the night. From what she could see there was no one out there, nonetheless she clutched a kunai in her hand and she slowly dug at the sand, slowly emerging from the cave. Carefully looking around, she spotted no one in sight and let out a sigh of relief.

The desert air was hot and dry, but it still felt better in her lungs than the stagnant air that had been sitting in the cave all night long. Crawling back inside, she found Naruto; checking his pulse and chakra levels. He was still frail, but the lack of exposure to the chakra draining spell had done him some good and the natural healing from the Kyuubi had kicked in. Still, touching his chest with the green glow, Sakura devoted as much Chakra as she dared to spare into helping along his injuries. When she was done she reached into her pack and pulled out a canteen, taking a sip herself before pouring some past Naruto's cracked lips and into his mouth.

They needed to move quickly, there was no telling when the Jashin patrols would be nearby. Heaving the still unconscious Naruto on her back and slinging the cloak over the both of them to block out the sun. Sakura stepped out of the cave and focused chakra at the base of her feet. It was a modified version of the water walking technique that would allow her to walk across the sand without leaving footprints, a technique originally developed by the black ops of Suna for stealth missions. Checking her position from the direction of the sunrise, Sakura made her way towards Suna. Naruto dozed on her back, groaning in his sleep, Sakura could only imagine what he was dreaming about.

---

5 Years Prior

The attack didn't come under the cover of darkness or from a secret passage under Konoha's walls. The 12 attackers simply walked up to the front gate and asked for Konoha to surrender, claiming to be from the True Race of the Jashin. The guards more or less laughed at them and told them to go back home. This was the last thing those guards ever said. When word of their death reached central command, Tsunade immediately ordered a squadron of 24 Anbu to eliminate the threat as quickly as possible. They never returned.

Naruto at the time was training with Kakshi in field 12-6, developing a new jutsu that was less self destructive than the Rasen Shuriken, when the message for Kakashi arrived. It only took one word to turn his pale visage even whiter, Jashin. He had read the Nara report a few years back about an encounter with the immortal man from Akatsuki named Hidan who hailed to the Jashin faith; the very same man that took Asuma Sarutobi's life. An investigation was ordered after the incident but no trace of the Jashin religion or its followers existed and it was believed that Hidan was the last of his kind. Obviously they were wrong.

"Hey Kakashi, what's the note say, and what's wrong with your face?"

Kakshi turned to face his pupil, careful to keep his composure, "It seems I forgot to properly fill out a mission report and the Hokage is pissed. I need to go take care of it right away. I'm not sure how long it'll take so stay here, I don't want you to get caught up in the situation"

"Situation?"

"If Tsunade-sama tries to beat me for screwing up, hah hah…"

Naruto groaned "Yeah, Baa-chan has been really crabby lately; watch out for her left hook, I think I've lost more than one tooth to that thing."

Kakashi nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. Now stay here." And the Copy Ninja was gone.

It was not long before Kakashi arrived at the Hokage tower.

"Don't tell me what to do Nara, I need to go down there personally," roared a voice as Kakshi pushed open the double doors into Tsunade's office.

"You don't understand Hokage-sama, if they're anything like Hidan then…"

"I read your report, I know their potential abilities. But right now they're demanding to see me and I refuse to throw more lives into the blender! ….Oh Kakashi you're here, Shikamaru, brief him"

Shikamaru sighed and turned, "12 assailants claiming to be Jashin followers forced their way into the front gates approximately 11 minutes ago. They killed the guards in the area. In response we dispatched 24 Anbu to deal with the situation, but they were also killed with no enemy causalities."

Kakashi's eyes widened, "No casualties? How could they possibly kill 24 Anbu without a scratch?"

"We're not sure exactly, all we know is they're making their way through the village towards this tower, killing anyone in their path. They're demanding to see me and won't stop until they find me."

"If they're at the level they seem to be, we can't afford to wait any longer without gathering more information about what they want and what they're capable of."

"Finally someone who understands!" roared Tsunade, "Good then, lets go Shisune, Kakashi; Shikamaru, fetch Sakura, I want her to be around to deal with any wounded." Shikamaru nodded reluctantly and sped out the window, "Also Kakashi, where is Naruto?"

"I told him to stay at the training grounds while I came here."

"Did you tell him why?"

"I told him I had to fill out some paperwork. I thought it best to keep him as far away from this situation as possible."

"Hmm probably the best choice. There has been no outward indication that they're part of Akatsuki, but I don't want to take any chances of Naruto falling into the wrong hands."

"Lets just hope word doesn't spread too quickly, I don't want him jumping in and getting himself captured or killed. Let's go."

Naruto quickly became bored of waiting and went off in search of Kakashi, figuring he might need some backup is Baa-chan really did go ballistic. Last thing he needed was his former teacher to end up dead or worse. Though as he sprinted through the training field towards the village, it because quickly apparent that something was up. Smoke could be seen rising from the main path to the Hokage Tower, and an ominous feeling was tugging at his stomach. Double his pace, he sprinting towards the rising smoke.

One he was on the streets it was apparent that chaos was underfoot. People were screaming and running away as other ninja darted across the rooftops towards the smoke. Within minutes Naruto cleared the final corner to witness hell on earth. The area was completely engulfed in flames and the smoke burned his eyes and lungs. A group of men and women, clad in black were standing near the center of inferno, seemingly uncaring of the surrounding ninja forces. Jounin surrounded the group, and in the front stood Tsunade and Kakashi.

Suddenly a large pair of hands covered Naruto's mouth and held his hands behind his back, pulling him back into the alleyway. He struggled to get away but the grip held fast. "Naruto, I'm going to let you go but you must be silent, do you understand?" Naruto nodded slowly and was released. Whipping around he realized his "assailant" was Yamato.

"Yamato-sensei, what the hell is going on?"

"Naruto please keep your voice down, the village has been invaded by several very powerful ninjas. They're demanding we surrender or they're going to kill everyone. Everything we've throw at them doesn't seem to do anything, Hokage-sama has entered into "aggressive-negotiations" but has ordered that you stay out of the fight. We don't know if they're after the Bijuu or not, and we can't risk you being captured. Didn't Kakashi tell you to stay in the training field?"

The blond scoffed, "Like that matters now," peering around the corner to see Tsunade taking on what appeared to be the leader of the group, "Baa-chan needs our help!"

Yamato gripped Naruto's arm, "Naruto, stop, this isn't a laughing matter, a lot of people have already died and I don't want you added to the list! I'm taking you to a more secure location."

But a familiar scream pierced Naruto's ears, and he turned back to see a flash of pink. One of the invaders held a struggling kunoichi in the air by her hair, arms and legs struggling to break free. "Sakura!" he screamed as he broke from Yamato's grip. The Jounin tried to chase after the blond but it was too late.

"Well well well fresh meat! Look who joined the party!" called out the man who was fighting Tsunade

"Uzumaki Naruto. Age 22. Height 181 cm. 79kg. Blood Type B. Special Ability: Rasengan. Also a known Jinchuuriki, Kyuubi Class." Rattled off another warrior.

The leader raised an eyebrow "Ah so THIS is the kid Lord Valjean was talking about. Ugly little shit though, oh well, we gotta capture him alive."

Damnit. Naruto gritted his teeth and looked over nervously at Sakura who was still struggling in pain to escape her captor, tears flowing down her pale cheeks.

"Ah I see, you're worried about this bitch? Tell ya what, I'll tell Silas here to put her down if you come with my friends here. If you don't, you get to watch her die slowly. So what's it gonna be?" he leader chuckled.

"NARUTO RUN!" Sakura screamed

"Damnit Naruto, stand down that's an order!" roared a panting Tsunade, but it was too late. Naruto leapt forward and landed next to Silas who promptly tossed Sakura into a pile of broken crates a few meters away. Naruto turned to run to her but a sharp pain hit the back of his neck and he collapsed to the ground, his last vision of him reaching out to an unconscious Sakura before he too slipped into darkness.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious when he finally woke up, and when he did he was already in a jail cell, his arms pinned and held by thick shackles which felt like they were draining any strength he managed to pull together. When his eyes finally began to focus in the dim light he looked up to a thin figure, clad in expensive cloth and armor.

Naruto's head was heavy but he managed to look the figure in the eye, "Who the hell are you?"

The man smiled and bent down, cupping Naruto's face in his hand, "You're new God, but you may call me Lord Valjean." Standing up he turned around and walked out of the cell, only pausing to look at another figure to say, "Break him."

The guard gleefully laughed, "I would be my pleasure, my lord." and then Naruto lost consciousness.

---

When Naruto regained consciousness, the only thing that filled his vision was a flickering light bulb directly above him. The ceiling was stone but not the same as his jail cell. Where was he? He didn't remember anything after….Sakura. Sakura? "Sakura?! SAKURA!" he screamed. Almost instantly a pink blur rushed into the room, "Naruto! Naruto I'm here, I'm right here!" she threw her arms around him and pulling him close, "I'm sorry I just stepped out for a moment. I'm here." She could feel the wetness from his tears on her shoulder and his entire body was shaking. Pulling him as close as she could without crushing him she stroked the back of his head, "It's ok, you're safe now, no one is going to hurt you anymore."

"W-wh-where are we?" he struggled.

"Underground Sunagakure. I'll explain everything later, you need your rest. Don't worry I'll stay here with you the whole time ok?" Naruto nodded weakly as Sakura laid him back down on the bed, gripping his hand reassuringly as he drifted back to sleep.

I know the whole flashback seems a bit fragmented but bear in mind most of it is from Naruto's point of view. I'll be revisiting various sections of the whole invasion flashback from different points of view so you'll get the whole story. Just wanted to let you all know before I get flooded with complaints -__- Thanks for reading!


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